WREXHAM manager Brian Flynn has spelled out the economic facts of life at a troubled Racecourse following his side's first round exit from the Worthington Cup at the hands of third division Hull City on Tuesday evening.

He used 13 of the 18 senior professionals available to him during a match in which the Dragons were outplayed for long spells and afterwards admitted that the club's finances make it impossible to bring in reinforcements at the present time.

"We've got what we've got, we want more, but under the present circumstances we can't," he said.

"We've got a young side, a new back four, a young goalkeeper and players still learning their trade.

"We have to be patient with them, that's the most important thing, but they have to grow up quickly because we need that little bit more at the moment.

"We'd like to make changes but I'm not unique in that unless you have a squad of 50 players and can rotate them. There's a few of those in the Premiership but not in the lower leagues."

Flynn saluted the performance of veteran Kevin Russell, a second-half substitute for the ineffectual Hector Sam, and said the 34-year old player had led by example.

"We didn't really perform in the first half, although the second half was better when we put on a bit more pressure and looked livelier going forward," added the Dragons' boss. "We made the substitutions to see if we could get at them wider and it nearly paid off.

"Kevin's had one or two niggling injuries but he played 90 minutes in the reserves on Monday and did well. His enthusiasm was infectious to some of the other players around him. Hopefully that will rub off on a few more in the future."

Flynn confessed he was disappointed that skipper Brian Carey got himself sent off in the final minute for a second bookable offence, which will rule him out of the trip to Notts County on September 8, saying: "That was purely frustration. He's an experienced defender and he should have known better, really."

But he refused to condemn Carey's central defensive partner Dennis Lawrence for a schoolboy error that gifted Hull a decisive third goal. "You can't legislate for incidents like big Dennis completely mis-timing the ball and their player is through on goal.

"Mistakes do happen, we accept that, and it was certainly a genuine mistake at a time when we looked as if we were getting back into the game."

But striking an optimistic note, he added: "We are not depressed because we've had only three games of the season. The experienced players are doing what they can to help the younger players along, and Kevin is the perfect example of that."

Wrexham need to tighten up defensively after conceding 11 goals in 270 minutes of football, but with Saturday's Racecourse opponents, Colchester United, boasting a 100 per cent record so far, the omens are not good.

Colchester secured a 2-0 Worthington Cup success at first division Portsmouth on Tuesday and Flynn said the goals against tally remained a major concern.

"It's a problem,but we are still doing our best, we are working hard at it, the players know their responsibilities and we have to keep at it. Rebuilding confidence starts first thing in the morning.

"We are already talking about Colchester coming here, what we are going to do and how we are going to play, because they'll come here on a high."